Ottawa [Canada], August 23 (ANI): Canadian PM Mark Carney has hit out at the US following suspension of trade talks, stating that the new terms by Washington DC were were “uneconomic, unfair, and undermined the net benefits for Canada”.
Carney said US demands revealed the limits of their commitment to a true economic partnership and he had directed the country’s negotiators to return to Ottawa.
The Canadian Prime Minister also said his country will match the United States’ new tariffs dollar-for-dollar to protect Canadian workers, farmers, families and businesses, after trade negotiations between the two countries collapsed.
Carney said on Saturday that the US asked too much and offered too little.
He said Ottawa felt that the two countries were moving towards a mutually beneficial agreement but in recent days, the United States proposed new terms that were “uneconomic, unfair, and undermined the net benefits for Canada”.
He said it raised questions on reliability of any deal. “They asked too much, and they offered too little,” he said.
Carney said the US stance revealed the limits of their commitment to a true economic partnership. “Last evening, I suspended trade negotiations with the United States and directed our negotiators to return to Ottawa,” he added.
The development came after trade negotiations between Washington and Ottawa broke down late Friday night, with the United States imposing a 50 per cent tariff on nearly USD 28 billion worth of Canadian imports from 12:01 am ET.
The levies affect nearly 5.5 per cent of Canada’s total exports shipped across the southern border, with targeted items ranging from hockey sticks to cement.
Carney said Ottawa would not accept any restrictions on its ability to independently execute trade deals around the globe.
He emphasised Ottawa’s position as a sovereign global trade partner.
“The U.S. introduced at the last hours, in the last hours, efforts to restrict our ability to have other trade deals. You heard me say a moment ago what we’ve accomplished in the last year, 20 new deals, economic and security partnership, the prospect of doubling our market access because we believe in free trade. We’re the partner of choice in many respects for countries around the world and the Americans wanted to restrict that,” Prime Minister Carney said.
“They had language that they wanted to restrict that. Unacceptable. But when it moves into restrictions and using Canada effectively as more leverage for America, that I mean clearly that’s Canadians wouldn’t accept that. We’re a proud independent country. We’ve got the right values. We’ll make our decisions about who we want to trade with and how and including on how we work with the United States,” he added.
He reiterated that any clause attempting to curb Canada’s commercial flexibility remains a firm red line.
“Then there’s a separate issue and I’ll just stop with a sentence here which was language which suggested restrictions in terms of our ability to execute trade deals which would always be unacceptable to this government. Around the world that’s expanding rapidly that will continue to expand because we’re trusted, because we’re reliable, because we have things like critical minerals, many other aspects that the world wants and so we’re going to continue to pursue that and one thing that we certainly were not going to accept was any restriction in our ability to execute those deals,” PM Carney said.
Despite claims by US President Donald Trump that a mutual agreement remained achievable owing to his “good relationship” with the Prime Minister, Ottawa confirmed it would retaliate against the new US trade barriers “dollar for dollar”.
Taking to social media platform X, PM Carney wrote, “Canada will match the U.S.’ new tariffs dollar for dollar in order to protect Canadian workers, farmers, families, and businesses. We take this step confident that it is in the best interests of Canada.”
The reciprocal measures announced by Ottawa will specifically focus on American dairy and steel exports, with the retaliatory duty structure scheduled to come into effect on September 8.
Meanwhile, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer confirmed on Friday that Washington had proposed “significant tariff reductions on steel, aluminium, autos and lumber” provided Ottawa made reciprocal concessions.
For months, Ottawa has been attempting to secure exemptions from those sector-specific US levies, which have inflicted serious strain on the Canadian economy, provoking widespread workforce layoffs and creating friction within what was historically an iron-clad trade relationship.
The diplomatic impasse comes after the White House accused Canada of “discriminatory treatment” regarding imported US dairy, automobile, and alcohol products prior to imposing the new duties. (ANI)
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